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Monday, February 15, 2010

Banks won`t accept Olympic pride for Mortgage payments

A person reading our local newspapers or watching local TV news would be hard pressed to find anything that isn`t Olympics related but trust me, there is news out there, bad news, bad news for BC.....I hope your ready, ready to move to a new promised land!

I hope your basking in the glow of Canadian pride, enjoy it, soak it up, 17 days of a lifetime, you know friends, I start writing these stories not knowing where I am going with them, I have a few ideas about what I want to write about but sometimes,......Sometimes while writing something pops into my head, today,this story the same thing has happened, I want to and I am going to write about the disaster in BCs forestry industry but there is a 5 word line above that I wrote and when the words appeared on the page it caused me to pause, no that`s not quite true, it actually caused me to come to a complete stop.

And those 5 words are.....17 days in a lifetime.

20 minutes later after musing about 17 days in a lifetime.....You see folks I won`t remember that mogul run by next week, I won`t be talking about the opening ceremonies with friends, I won`t be chanting "go Canada go" two weeks from now, 25,550 days, that`s how many days I will have lived if I make it to 70 years of age, the Gordon Campbell Government stopped performing it`s duty to the public several years ago, in fact many would say this Government stopped performing it`s public duty 8 years ago.

The entire Province has been neglected because of those 17 days, massive cuts to everything over those 17 days, and more massive cuts will be announced by the Campbell Government 2 days after these 17 days in a lifetime.

Those days will be gone, the bill, the bill for those 17 days of a lifetime will linger for at least 7000 days...Yikes, forestry, as you know the Eurocan mill has now closed in Kitimat, over 500 jobs gone forever, a deathblow to that town, small town BC is bleeding jobs, there was a mill in Castlegar that I read about where the employees took a 25% cut in wages only to be laid off promptly after the wage concession, mills throughout BC have refused to pay their tax bill, I was reading a story this morning about the Coulson mills in Port Alberni, they are shutting down indefinitely next week, the owner of the mill is pondering getting into the ultra cheap lumber milling game, what is that, well as you know Pat bell has been crowing about exports of lumber to China but, the Cants and raw logs and cheap 2X4s made out of low value bean poles going to China isn`t lucrative, in fact it`s a losing proposition, the owner of the Coulson mills has asked the workers to take a 30% wage cut, the owner of the mill has also stated that there are no guarantees, he has suggested having a 6 month trial period and then re-assess...Of course this has only been talk, the fact is the mill is closing next week and the jobs are gone.

Friends, I have seen the movie before, it started many years ago with almost all electronic manufacturing moving to Asia all in the pursuit of cheap/slave labour, the manufacturing of basic goods slowly moved to Asian labour markets, housewares, clothing, shoes, even Starbuck`s coffee cups are made in China, the USA is reeling from job losses that aren`t coming back, cheap labour from all over the world is killing off the once great north American dream, here is an example I like to use, 10 years ago in California the the average wage for a meat cutter was $17 dollars per hour, today the average meat cutter wage in California is $8 dollars per hour.

So here in British Columbia the foolish people of BC re-elected Gordon Campbell in 2005, the man and his cronies,particularly Gordon Campbell with his preference to give everything away to his American friends, Gordon Campbell deliberately destroyed BCs forest industry, he had lots of help from Rich Coleman and now Pat Bell, Gordon Campbell allowed the big three forest company to gobble up all the small players, and these big companies that are all controlled by New York investors don`t care about the town of Kitimat, or Port Alberni, Castlegar, and hundreds of other towns, these investors could care less if those towns die and friends that is exactly what has and is happening, now BC is quite diverse and I can hear the city folks saying...Move, come to the big city,the land of plenty,land of jobs, land of the future....And I say this to anyone who states that about the city,......The big cities have somewhat of an internal engine that drives those economies but, that city engine is now running on gas fumes and rural BC and rural resources and wealth generated by the Heartlands is the gas station that fills up the big city`s gas tanks, and friends, the rural and the heartlands gas stations are closed! There will be no filling up the big city`s gas tank!

I thought at one time that a country with resources,natural resources would be able to fend off the multi nationals and New York shareholder owned Companies, I also believed that the fact that these natural resources are here in BC,in Canada that we would be safe, I was wrong, it`s now cheaper to cut down a tree, ship it 5000 miles across the pacific ocean, unload it, truck it to an Asian mill, mill the trees, put it back on a truck, ship it back across the Pacific ocean, put it on another truck and ship it to our stores shelves for less money than we can do it here.

What is wrong with that picture, wages have been cut, how far can we cut them, our BC mills if any survive will be nothing but MC jobs, minimum wage jobs, that would suit Gordon Campbell just fine, that would suit the New York shareholders, in fact I suspect that is one of the reasons Gordon Campbell and ALL BC Liberals won`t ever raise the minimum wage, let me quickly touch on rural BC...People in rural BC generally have long commutes, crummy roads, trucks are usually the transportation of choice and need, it`s generally much colder in Rural BC, higher energy bills,higher electrical bills, much higher food bills, there isn`t multiple grocery stores competing against each other, and food and goods are more expensive than the big cities because of transportation costs, the property tax load is generally less than the big city but any savings there are more than offset by higher priced basic goods so the idea that our BC mills and forestry jobs can be MC jobs/minimum wage jobs is foolish folly!

I personally think we should close down the forest, supply nothing to China,nothing to Asia, the system is broken, we can`t compete with Asian workers making $2 dollars per day, there is no point in trying to compete, save our trees,save our forests, shut off the supply and drive prices up, the race to the bottom can`t be won,only lost, why would we compete for a loss,a loss of our Canadian society so New York shareholders and Chinese sweat shop owners can fill their pockets! Let`s all have empty pockets, sounds like a simple answer, it is to me, but there is a fly in the ointment, that fly being....Gordon Campbell,Mike De Jong, Rich Coleman, now Pat Bell have given away our forest to these New York shareholders and these forests are now called "Private lands" and we have zero say on what happens to those trees, unabated raw logs leaving from private lands that don`t even get counted in our raw log export market, these private lands, how can I describe it, well, it`s like a black market for logs, no tax, no paper trail, an underground industry that benefits nobody but Chinese sweat shop owners and New York shareholders.

Meanwhile, the owner of the Coulson mills in Port Alberni is predicting that most BC mills will be shut down by summer, that`s right folks, what little is left of our forestry is swirling Gordon Campbell`s toilet bowl.

And maybe you think oil n gas will save us, you would be wrong, with the royalties at rock bottom in BC (3%) ..With all the tax breaks,the subsidies, and with the very limited employment the industry offers there will be no oil n gas saviour, and how long will it be before the slave labour market breaches even that limited employment, 17 days in a lifetime......These shareholders, the bankers, the robber barons, they won`t accept Olympic pride for mortgage payments, they won`t trade "go Canada go" for an installment, so I hope you enjoyed the lip-sinc, I hoped the Orca in BC place was worth it, I hope you remember "what`s his name" who won the mogul event, I hope 17 days in a lifetime is worth 7000 days of pain! (you can read about the mill closures here) http://www2.canada.com/albernivalleytimes/news/story.html?id=98232b94-412f-42c8-8b3f-36800b25bac0&p=1

18 comments:

I will always, always remember "Whats his name" Alex Bilodeau for the inspiration and love he dedicated to his sport - and the source of his inspiration, his disabled brother.

I watched the interview with he and his family on tv last night and could not contain the emotion it evoked in me.I can appreciate well, how he and his family must have been feeling after so many minutes, hours, years of giving everything they had to this one moment- and now so much more. That, to me, is the true Canadian spirit, and whether it is found in skiing or a documentary, or in the words I write on my site, it is something I admire in those who give their all to their passion.

While we are busy continually chronicling and revealing the machinations of our Liberal government and the cuts we know will come when these days are over, I personally feel it is in no way correct to attach blame to the athletes themselves. They did not ask for the games to come to BC, nor did they initiate the decisions Campbell and his accomplices made in the exhorbitant expenditures associated with everything 2010.

Some people forget that the vast majority of these athletes are like just like the rest of us, having to fight for everything they achieve.Most of them come from families who have sacrificed a lot to support their kids dreams, with funding only coming from our governments in a decent amount in the last couple of years.

So call me a dreamer, but I still believe in dreams and passion and doing what you must because it is what you were meant to do. So his talent is snowboarding, not writing about mills closing. So what?

To me, it is still important that youth have role models to look up to, to show them what is possible to achieve. And Alex Bilodeau is a hero to me,for who he is, and for what he stands up for.

Yes,we have stories of epic proportions here in BC, and I will continue to dedicate everything I have to revealing the truth based on hard facts, but in no way will any of that take away from the moment I saw between Alex and his brother. It was magnificant.

Also...Not me but..The Australian skier should have won gold,his run was technically better..That is the buzz from Australia and I agree,I watched the event and the slow motion replay of the Gold and Silver runs..

And I don`t care who won the Gold medal,I`m not judging any contests, the moment would have been just as priceless between Bilodeau and his dis-abled brother if he had fallen and crashed.

But feel free to let me know what it is you think I've nit- picked at???

I also never said you attached blame, I pointed out that I think it is important for anyone not to do that, because I've heard it elsewhere in increasingly alarming frequency. Why it would be an athletes fault that we are hosting the games is beyond me. This seemed to be a relevent post to add that onto.

I have no care as to who's run was technically better,my memory will always be one of Alex, and his family. To me, that is what it is all about.

As you said,The big cities have somewhat of an internal engine that drives those economies but, that city engine is now running on gas fumes and rural BC and rural resources and wealth generated by the Heartlands is the gas station that fills up the big city`s gas tanks, and friends, the rural and the heartlands gas stations are closed! There will be no filling up the big city`s gas tank!----------------------------------------------Aah yes, there is a big bad rude awaking coming to the big smoke, small towns are like the little gears in a gear box, when the little gears break the big gears come to a stop. Sure hate to hear the crappy news about Port Alberni, lived and worked there many years ago, great town and great people, would have stayed there forever, but mother nature wouldn't let me.***Henri Paul***

I guess Campbell and Co. won't be satisfied until the majority of the workforce is employed in minimum wage service sector jobs.

Apparently next on his agenda is to privatize the ambulance service, no doubt to some American union busting firm. I got this info from Harvey O's site even though it should have come from the MSM. Unfortunately they have their collective heads so far up the IOC's ass that they cannot be bothered reporting on anything that is not tied to the 5-ring circus.

You can bet that the BC Libs will be making a lot more announcements during the games in the hope that no one notices.

Finally, the sooner the people in North America wake up and start buying goods manufactured in North America whenever possible, the sooner some companies will come to realize that there is merit in manufacturing in the USA and Canada again. It does take a concerted effort because one must learn to read labels and can be a little more costly in some cases, but eventually it will payoff.

It's obvious that government is useless in promoting that we buy North American so each and every one of us must take it upon ourselves to stop the race to the bottom.

Thanks for keeping your eye on the ball. With no MSM for the better part of 19 years from 1991-2001 they lied about everything NDP, the economy, the budget surplus passed down in 2001, blah, blah, from 2001-2010 they lied about the B.C. Liberals, ignoring the opposition, stopping democracy dead in it's tracks. You are always informative, always factual and always accurate and your outstanding natural humour thrown in for good measure is a bonus. If it were not for messengers of your caliber telling it like it is we probably would not be where we need to be, that is, hopefully in a position to bring this corrupt, evil government down, NOW, we can't wait for the next election. I don't believe we have been ignored! by Campbell concentrating on his games. He has been busy with B.C. Rail back into government and as I look at BC Mary's beautiful pictures of B.C. Rail and now our property ready to be given away I ask how can this be happening...Deloitte, invasion-of-privacy-record-keepers looks like a done deal, out of country, $180 million which looks like from what I read could have been done for $3 million, it simply being a matter of hooking up a bunch of computers to keep track of us...one report I heard said the luge venue was never finished because they ran out of time, a please tell me it isn't so moment - OWN THE PODIUM - at any cost. The B.C. Liberals, the corporates, Vision, IOC and Vanoc are treating the world's athletes simply as pawns in a very dirty game. Campbell has even made Himself the star of the Vancouver 2010 Olympics and successfully eliminated the host, (I have no love for Robertson) but it is his show...Campbell promised the paramedics on the eve of the opening ceremonies that as soon as the games are over they will be done -- privatized. The true minimum wage in B.C. is $2.00, not $6.00 and not $8.00, I still have my strike sign up...and on and on the B.C. Liberals go. Last night I re-read the bcliberalssuck blogspot and walked myself through the absolute dispair and the fight for survival our sreet people are forced to go through every minute of every day and again ask myself how can this be happening? Come March 2 lots more people will suffer and some will die, come July 1 the HST will see more absolute dispair, these things I will always remember and so it goes, on and on and on. I will also remember you for always allowing people to speak freely, not always totally accurate of course but you understood and never made comments about the small stuff but instead listening to what matters. I will also always remember you saying...'I need to correct you' and you did and you should have, my PAB numbers were so wrong! and you did it in such a classy way as only you know how to do.As usual, thank you.Jean

That's not all he's working on privatizing...he's after healthcare workers again.

It looks to me like he's privatizing everything in healthcare - but for doctor's and nurses...slowwwwly, or not. With no cap on how many this time, that means he can dump 48,000 people from a living wage to minimum or slightly above. No doubt when he's done, he'll have plenty of money for a "well done" raise for himself and his rubber stampers.

It will be interesting to see which of his private company cronies is the recipient of his largesse this time around. We can only hope the company is at least Canadian - unlike the companies he's already privatized with. Anyone who thinks privatization saves money needs their head examined.

In my opinion it's time to tie him onto a luge sled and send him on down. It's time the boy (I refuse to call him a man) had the ride of HIS life! Might scare some sense into the vacuum... .

Leah said in part, February 16, 2010 9:59 AM In my opinion it's time to tie him (gordung) onto a luge sled and send him on down.-----------------------------------------Good idea Leah,but get double the pleasure, and tie that useless James on with him.

Jaydee(Jean)...Thanks for the nice comment, that`s why I have a free comment section,and the fact that the comments aren`t pre-screened everyone has been real good on my site..

I have only had to delete a few comments and most of them were my own...

Also a few of Christy Clark`s friends who were threatening me with law suits...I told them to....

"Bring it on"

I will be the first to admit that I`m a little rough with my stories.

You see friends,the Palmers,the Baldreys,the Gary Masons of the world...

When they once in a blue moon criticize the Habitual liar Gordon Campbell they tip-toe around,they`re subtle,they give little clues or hints,8 years of being subtle,8 years of hints,8 years of changing their tune on the run-up to elections...

So I decided early on to call it the way I see it,no being subtle,no being classy,just the Straight Goods.

Grant, this is how it works. The government will sell the 3 metro lines to private consortium's to operate, while at the same time subsidize their operation.

This is how it will work.

- Private consortium buys Canada line for a nominal fee.- Provincial government will still pay for the debt servicing and P-3 costs.- TransLink will be forced to pay an operations fee per passenger boarded.- Private consortium will maintain fleet, being paid to do so by TransLink.- Any deficiencies are to be paid by TransLink.- Profit comes from lower wages for staff, deferring maintenance, etc.- private consortium will operate for 25 years or so, then returning the Canada line to TransLink- At the end of 25 years we get a clapped out metro and huge bills and the private consortium will make 10% (or more) per annum on their investment.

Why do you think TransLink is reporting impossibly high ridership numbers for the Canada line?

Maggie Thatcher used the same process for the privatization of British Rail.

The advantage would be one of Gordo corporate friends making money from regional taxpayers.

Think of it like a sub-prime mortgage for transit.

The advantage would be the profit made from cheaper wages, etc. The "eye" is not a financial whiz, but the same sort of financing has been used on other public transit systems, including Dublin's LUAS LRT and London's TUBE.

The theory goes like this: the transportation agency only pays one fixed cost per annum, while the Train Operating Company or TOC runs the service. They make their money from economic operation and deferred maintenance.

This would suit he Canada Line as it would further obscure the Ponzi scheme financing that funded the metro.